


roommates, sort of

by tomxdaya



Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-24 16:26:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17104040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomxdaya/pseuds/tomxdaya
Summary: Peter Parker and Michelle Jones are literal enemies. And then things happen at home and Michelle has to come live at the Parkers...and it’s Peter’s worst nightmare come true.





	1. Chapter 1

Peter first met Michelle Jones in his freshman year of high school.

She was the rudest person he’d ever met, and he’d met a lot of rude people.

And Peter had tried to be nice. He really had. He’d sat with her at lunch, trying to understand her literature references, and even invited her over to study with him and Ned after school one day. That had been a huge mistake.

She’d only said yes because she liked Ned fine and he had promised her May’s (storebought) lasagna. So she’d come over that afternoon and had immediately hit it off with his aunt. How, Peter had no idea. Michelle had mentioned a book she’d read and it turned out to be May’s favorite and so instead of studying, she and MJ had a three-hour long conversation about The Great Gatsby. Women.

So even though Michelle literally HATED Peter’s guts, she’d started coming over frequently after school along with Ned. Except instead of hanging out with the boys, she’d sit down with May in the living room to talk about books or his aunt’s cooking or whatever the hell they talked about. Peter didn’t care to know. He hated Michelle too. He’d tried at first, being the happy little puppy he was, wanting to befriend everyone, but that was before he really got to know her. Now that he did, he tried staying as far away from her as possible.

She was mean and weird and awkward and sarcastic and too often made fun of Peter’s choice of clothing. So yeah, he didn’t like her all that much. The only reason he still let her come over a couple days a week was because of May. Michelle made May happy, and Peter loved his aunt and wanted her to be as content as possible. So he tolerated MJ.

One day, the three juniors walked home from school towards Peter’s apartment. Michelle was awfully quiet, considering she ranted way too often about the current state of politics on the way home. Ned was the first to notice.

“Michelle, are you okay?” He asked. “You’ve been, like, really quiet.”

Michelle mumbled something and Ned asked, “Hm?”

“I said, I’m fine.” She responded in a harsh tone that she only ever really used with Peter when she thought he was being obnoxious. She’d never used that tone with Ned, so he was concerned.

“Mich-“ he was cut off by Peter jabbing his side with his elbow and giving him the death glare. Peter didn’t want to upset her. She was a thousand times worse when she was in a bad mood, which had been happening more often recently so he had to try and shut up his best friend before he upset her more.

They arrived at the apartment and Peter and Ned threw their backpacks down and entered Peter’s room. They could vaguely hear Michelle greeting May in a quiet tone and May asking her what was wrong. They tuned them out quickly by studying for their upcoming AP Chem final.

About an hour later, Ned nudged Peter in the arm and gestured pointedly towards the closed bedroom. “Listen,” he whispered.

Peter looked at him, confused, before hearing quiet sobs coming from the living room. The boys looked at each other, concerned, before hearing May speak.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. That’s awful,” she said softly, “and they don’t deserve you anyway.”

The boys craned their necks to be able to hear MJ’s quiet response.

“I don’t know. They told me-“ she paused to sniff, “they told me that I couldn’t be with them anymore. I don’t know what to do. If I could leave I would have done it a long time ago. But I can’t, May. I’m seventeen. If this had happened in a year I would’ve-“

She stopped and Peter could hear his aunt comforting Michelle with a warm voice and he heard MJ sob again.

Then he heard May reply, “Go get your things. We’re driving to your apartment so you can gather your stuff and come back here. You need to stay with us.” And before Michelle could respond he heard, “I’m not taking no for an answer, Michelle. You’re not safe there and you’re definitely not safe by yourself. You need someone, sweetie.”

He heard MJ sniff again and heard footsteps down the hall. He and Ned looked at each other, shocked and speechless. What had happened to her? And what had been so bad that she’d need to- wait. May had just invited Michelle to…live…with them. That meant she was staying here. That meant- no.

Peter stood up to go talk to his aunt. She must have an idea of how much he and Michelle despised each other. She had to know that. There was no way in hell that he was letting this happen.

Before he could open his bedroom door, however, May was poking her head in.

“Ned, can I take you home? I need to speak with Peter for a second but go grab your stuff and I’ll be right out.”

Ned nodded quickly and scrambled out the door to avoid the upcoming awkward situation.

May looked at Peter pointedly. “Did you hear everything?”

“No!” He squeaked, not wanting to reveal the fact that he and Ned had just eavesdropped on a very personal conversation between the two women.

“Yes, you did. Anyway, Michelle is gonna stay with us for a little while. There’s been some…complicationsat home. She’s not safe there right now. But I need you to stop being a jerk to her, Peter. Seriously.”

“She’s awful, May! She’s the rudest person I’ve ever met. I don’t know how you stand her-“

“That’s enough, Peter!” She snapped. She looked at him and then softened her eyes and sighed. “I’ll be back in about an hour, okay? I just need to drop off Ned and sort a few things out. Make sure the spare room is ready and everything.”

He nodded defeatedly. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. She approached him and sat down next to him on his bottom bunk before pulling him close and giving him a short kiss on the top of his head.

“Just promise me, Peter,” she looked at him, pulling away. “Don’t make this difficult for her. Not now.”

He nodded, sighing as she left the room.

Shit, he had to process this. His worst enemy was staying at his house for god knows how long…and he had no idea how that was gonna work. Thinking back to her sniffling and hushed sobs, he felt a tiny burst of sympathy for her. He’d never seen her show any sign of weakness, ever, so whatever was happening must be really tough for her. He groaned and flopped back on his bed. This was gonna be a complete disaster.


	2. Chapter 2

“Peter, wake up,” May sighed as she knocked on her nephew's bedroom door at 7am.

“Huh?” He was suddenly awake and groaned at the wordless reminder that he had school today. “I’m up, I’m up,” he grumbled, and threw the bed covers off of him. As he stretched and stood up, he remembered that- oh shit. Last night had actually happened. That wasn’t a nightmare. Oh. No.

He glared at the floor as he now heard the shower running in the next room. Michelle. She’d stayed the night. And it looked like she’d be staying many more nights, as well.

He fumbled across his room gathering his textbooks and throwing on random clothes (he’d showered the previous night, don’t worry). He waited until he heard the shower water shut off and the bathroom door open and close to use it. And it smelled weird.

Not a bad weird. It just smelled like a…girl. He’d been so used to May having her bathroom and Peter having his and never having to share it with anyone that it was incredibly strange. He sniffed again, recognizing the smell of May’s usual floral shampoo. She’d probably lended some to Michelle. As he squirted hair gel onto his fingers, he rubbed the steamed up mirror with his elbow and sighed. This was something he’d have to get used to. He just hoped he could avoid her as much as possible, praying that little would change.

Soon enough, May was calling for him and Michelle and they were out the door and on their way to Midtown. Of course, Michelle got shotgun and Peter had to take the backseat, but instead of endless chattering like Peter was used to between the two, there was silence. Not on May’s part. She tried to start a conversation by speaking up.

“So, anything special going on at school today? Any tests or activities or…?”

Michelle was silent. Peter hated the awkward silence and spoke up. “Um. I have a Chemistry test and my Computer Tech project was supposed to be due today. But I turned it in last week.” He replied with an awkward chuckle, hating the tension between the three.

“Well that’s nice, Peter. I’m glad you decided to get that done early. Keep that up,” she responded. The tension was just as thick as before and Peter gulped and stared out the window.

Finally, they arrived at school. Michelle quietly thanked May and got out of the car quickly. Peter did the same, and headed to his Geometry class.

The day went by fairly quickly, but that’s the last thing Peter wanted. He was dreading going home to more awkwardness, and knew that the car ride that morning was just the beginning.

Soon enough, the final bell rang and Peter was heading to Michelle’s last period class like May had asked of him.

He turned the corner and saw her AP Government classroom, and waited for her to exit it. She was the last one out and as soon as she laid eyes on Peter, she huffed and glared in the other direction.

Peter remembered his aunt’s words from the previous night and sighed, holding back any snide insults he may have used had this been any other situation. Instead, he forced a smile and said, “May’s parked in the side lot.”

She nodded and they headed off in that direction.

-

At home, Michelle softly asked May if she could prepare dinner. May smiled and accepted her timid request excitedly. And Peter was off to his bedroom.

Before he could even set his bag down by his bunk bed, May was knocking on his door. He opened it with an exhausted exhale to see her smiling oddly sympathetically.

“Pete, come out here. You can study in the living room, okay? You always do that; I don’t know why today should be any different.”

Without responding, Peter jerked his head towards the closed door towards the kitchen. May lowered her voice.

“What about her?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just…weird. Things are just awkward. And you have a better relationship with her and I just…I don’t know, May. She hates me.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Yes, she does! Have you seen her around me?? It’s like I’m diseased, or something. Jesus, May.”

“Stop it. I’m telling you right now as your aunt, you’re gonna spend time with us. I hardly ever see you anymore. Come on.” And with that she left his bedroom.

Peter sighed (quite dramatically, although he’d never admit that) and gathered his Language textbooks to go to set up studying on the dining room table. And he automatically noticed that it smelled great in there. Was she cooking chili? Wow.

He sat down with an, “I didn’t know you could cook,” and a pointed look at Michelle.

For the first time, literally ever, he heard her chuckle softly. “Uh, yeah, my dad was great at it. He taught me when I was little.”

He took note of the past tense she used when referring to her father and hesitantly asked, “What happened?”

She turned away and continued stirring the soup. “It’s none of your business, Parker,” she retorted. Well, at least she was somewhat back to her old self. Peter nodded and turned his attention back to his textbook.

Dinner that night was…pleasant. His aunt and Michelle of course lead the conversation and Peter found himself smiling at their passionate rant about F. Scott Fitzgerald. He was glad to see Michelle somewhat content, even though he knew things were difficult for her right now. But he caught his positive thoughts about her immediately and shook them off. What the hell? She hated him. He hated her. He couldn’t stand her. So why…why was he even dealing with her right now?

Granted, he knew his distaste for her was probably uncalled for, but still. In that moment, caught in his thoughts, he suddenly realized he’d zoned out and was staring at Michelle with a blank look on his face.

She looked at him, confused, before flicking a piece of shredded cheese at him. She and May snickered and Peter found himself joining them, forgetting all negative thoughts about the situation and tossing an olive from his bowl of chili at her.

She shrieked and said, “Parker! That’s from the chili! That’s disgusting.” She tried to look angry, he saw, before smiling slowly and turning that into a laugh.

Peter caught himself staring at her again, but this time he wasn’t zoned out. It was because he’d simply never seen her laugh before. And my god, it was beautiful.

Holy. Shit. What was he thinking? Again, this was Michelle. He couldn’t stand her. So why-

His thoughts were interrupted by the cold, wet chill of an ice cube down his shirt. He yelled from the unexpectedness of it as Michelle’s laugh progressed to a full-blown, dying animal holler. May had joined her by now and Peter shook his head, amused, before standing up to clear their plates. As he did so, he had the fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe, he could make this work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update but I'll get better I promise! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas mwah xx


	3. Chapter 3

It was a weekly tradition for the Parkers to have a movie night on Fridays. Sometimes Ned would come along, sometimes Peter would be by himself, but every Friday, a movie was on in the apartment. So now that Michelle was a recent addition to the Parker household, she was included in Friday night movies. Obviously. 

It was a wonder she’d agreed to it in the first place. Normally, whenever Peter was involved, she quickly opted out and refused to participate. God only knows why. So when May had asked her to join them that week, Peter had been mildly surprised when she’d accepted the request. And a little worried. 

He became even more worried when May texted him at school on Friday and told them she’d be busy that night. May was never busy on Friday nights. He’d asked her why and she’d vaguely responded ‘a date’. Peter bombarded her with questions but she hadn’t replied (purposefully, he was sure) and he was left curious and fretful over a movie night, alone with his arch-enemy. 

On the walk home, Peter tried to bring up the subject. “So, um, May’s on a date tonight.”

“Huh? May?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. 

“Hm.” 

And that was it. There was no further conversation. There never was, unless Ned was with them. Oh god, Peter wished Ned was with them. He always took away the tension, but tonight he had a family dinner. So Peter and Michelle were to be...alone. 

When they got home, they each went to their separate rooms like they had been doing for the past week now. Peter got out his textbooks out of habit and tried to focus on his Geometry review. 

Two hours later, Peter smelled what seemed like pot roast in the kitchen and figured Michelle was cooking again. She’d done this almost every night since she’d been here and it had been great. Dinner had always been a pleasant experience. Well...when May was here. 

He shut the book and left his bedroom to enter the kitchen. “It smells good, Michelle.” 

“Thanks,” she replied, her back to him, stirring what he observed was steamed broccoli on the stove. He tilted his head timidly. “Do you need help?” 

“No.”

“Okay.”

“It’ll be ready real soon.”

“Okay. Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Yep.”

There was an awkward silence, and then- “Hey, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but movie night is tonight and I-“ he cleared his throat. “I mean, I know May’s not here but would you still want to-“

“Um. Okay.” He heard her quiet reply. 

He scratched his neck, noting that she hadn’t turned around once while speaking to him. “So, uh-“ 

“Dinner’s ready.” 

They sat at opposite ends of the small rectangular table; the only sounds in the room being utensils scraping on dinner plates and water glasses being used and set back down. They’d never done this without May, and if dinner was this bad, Peter couldn’t imagine having to sit next to her for two entire hours for the movie. He quickly worked up the courage to make an excuse to get out of the film but suddenly he heard a soft “I’ll clear the plates if you get the movie set up. With popcorn, of course.”

“Y-yeah, sure.” He cleared his throat again and went over to select Capturing the Friedman’s. He waited until after she was done and had sat the farthest away from him as she could on the single sofa to start the film. 

About halfway through the movie, soon after it had explained how the father had been arrested and all the abuse the son had to go through, he heard quiet sniffling. He turned to glance at Michelle, who was staring at the floor and had expertly placed her hair over her shoulder to hide her face from him. He knitted his eyebrows in soft concern. “Michelle?” 

Nothing. 

“Michelle.” 

Then, “hm?” It sounded strangled and whispered, and Peter’s concern rose. 

“Michelle, what’s wrong?”

She coughed quickly, replying with, “Nothing.”

“Tell me,” he said, pausing the film. 

She glanced at him, for a second, and he could see several tears on her cheeks and her eyes red. Her breathing was obviously labored but he could tell she was struggling to hide it. 

“It’s just,” she said, “this movie is about domestic abuse.”

“Yes-“ Peter tried responding, confused-

“I just have bad memories that this movie reminds me of, that’s all.” 

Peter didn’t want to push the issue, but he was also curious. “What do you mean?”

“My dad went to jail, too. A few years ago,” was all she gave him. 

“Oh.” He didn’t know what to say. He could hear her continued sniffling and choked tears and he knew she couldn’t control them because otherwise she would have. 

He made the bold move before he stopped to think about it, what it would mean. He shuffled closer to her on the couch and wrapped his arms around her, praying she wouldn’t think too much of this or get upset. And her reaction surprised him immensely. 

She inhaled sharply and relaxed into him, letting the sobs out now. He put a hand on the back of her head and gently placed her head in his neck, hugging her tighter. She exhaled then, deeply, and continued to cry into his shoulder. 

They stayed like that for at least ten minutes, him holding her and her allowing it, for once. Then Michelle pulled back, wiping her eyes. 

“Thanks, Parker. I’m, uh, I’m gonna go to bed now if you don’t mind.” 

“No, that’s totally fine.” 

“Okay.”

She went into her bedroom and shut the door. 

And Peter was left wondering what the hell had just happened, and why he all of the sudden felt a sort of protectiveness and concern for her, and he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.


	4. Chapter 4

Peter woke up early on Saturday morning with a massive headache. He suspected it was because he’d fallen asleep trying to figure out Michelle, and what she’d meant by her surprising and negative emotional connection to the movie. And he still hadn’t figured it out. 

Just like every Saturday, he showered and then stalked off to the kitchen where he attempted to make breakfast for he and May. His aunt had said she’d wanted him to learn to cook, that it was a good skill, and one that he didn’t even remotely have. So “attempted” is the emphasis of the situation. 

He hummed along to a quiet playlist as he whisked the raw eggs and attempted to not explode the apartment complex by turning on the gas stove. Then suddenly, he heard a quiet, feminine cough. 

His head looked up from the range as he took in Michelle, her hair wild and curly from sleeping and her tank top and shorts rumpled to an extreme. He inwardly chuckled but knew he shouldn’t cross her right now. “Hi,” he tried. 

“I didn’t know you could cook, too,” she offered in lieu of a polite greeting. 

“I can’t. This is just May’s way of teaching me how to be an adult,” he let out a soft laugh. 

She nodded, then scratched her neck. “Um. Do you have tea?”

“Yeah, it’s in the cupboard above the microwave. And you can use the coffeemaker.”

She nodded again and proceeded to move around Peter to grab the necessities before starting the tea. “Where’s your aunt?” 

“I don’t know, actually. I can check.” He replied, moving around her again and heading down the small hallway towards the master bedroom.

He knocked once, heard nothing, then tried again. Still nothing. Confused, and worried as hell, he checked his phone to see a text from his aunt sent an hour ago explaining that she had...stayed the night? With her date? At his apartment? Peter didn’t know whether to be alarmed or happy for her or grossed out; he sure was feeling all three emotions at the moment, but most of all he was insanely confused. 

“Parker?”

He turned to see Michelle at the end of the hallway looking at him expectantly. “Is she here?”  
“She, um, she stayed with her date. Like overnight.” 

Michelle nodded and pumped her fist, looking proud. “Get it!” She said with a little smile on her face. That was improvement. 

Peter chuckled and made a face before they both headed back to the kitchen to finish breakfast.  
As he continued preparing, Michelle sat at the dining table and drank her tea while reading the newspaper. 

“What, are you fifty?” Peter asked incredulously.  
She glared at him and replied, “You should try it sometime,” before going back to her article. 

After a minute, she looked up. “Parker?” 

He looked up, expectant. “Yeah?”

She hesitated. “I’m sorry about last night. That was uncalled for and I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Peter shook his head apologetically. “No, no, it’s totally fine. I mean, I- I’m confused, and I hope you’re okay. That’s all that matters. Not to me. I mean-“ he squeezed his eyes shut in embarrassment. “I mean, I’m glad you’re doing better.”

“Thanks, loser.”

“I’m still a loser, huh?” The atmosphere turned playful now. 

“Well, yeah, you’ll always be a loser. That’s never gonna change.”

“Watch it! You’re talking to a future MIT student; I am in no way a loser,”

“MIT? That’s nice. I got into Harvard.”

His jaw dropped but after a few seconds of deliberation, he decided he wasn’t that shocked. It was Michelle, after all. He closed his mouth quickly and said, “Cool beans,” trying to sound non-

She gave a smug smile and went back to her tea as Peter rolled his eyes with a small smile on his face. She was the most conceited, annoying person he’d ever met and he didn’t like her at all. Right?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I’ll try to update as often as possible but I think this’ll be around twenty chapters. Go check out my tumblr: tomxdaya.tumblr.com  
> Love you all!


End file.
